Bad Company

So, since my 360 died and it might be a month before the whole "send/repair/return" process finishes, I found myself gameless. All the games I was currently playing were on the 360 (Fallout 3, World at War, CoD4, Far Cry 2, etc.). The last PS3 game I purchased was Mirror's Edge and I finished it.

So off I went to Best Buy to look for a PS3 game. I ended up getting Battlefield: Bad Company, since I always wanted to play it and it was only $29.99.

Some impressions:

- I really enjoy the game's sense of humor. I think the writing is pretty solid (if not a bit over the top at times), but it is the performances that make it work. The voice acting is very good. I have laughed out loud at the banter between my squad mates.

- The controls feel great. The aiming was way loose by default, so I had to turn that down quite a bit, but once I did and got used to the set-up, I was cruising along.

- Visually, the game is solid. It is not the best looking game around, but there is something about its graphical presentation that draws me in. The game seems to be using some kind of visual filter, giving the game a sort of grainy look to it, which I actually like. The destructive environments add a ton to the overall experience. The weapons looks great and are extremely detailed, with fantastic reload animations. Also, small detail, but I love the way the gun sways when you are moving. Not sure what it is, but Dice really nailed this (at least in my opinion).

- So far, what has impressed me the most has been the audio. The audio in this game is just fantastic. I already mentioned the voice acting, but the total audio package is really top notch. The music fits well, and hearing the funny tunes paying from the varius vehicle radio's is a nice sharp contrast to the destruction going on around you. But it is the sound of that destruction that really kicks the audio presentation to the top of the pack. Everything sounds awesome. From the sound of your footsteps and gear when you are walking or sprinting, to the sound of your breathing when exerting yourself, to the countless explosions and gun fire. Everything also sounds different depending on distance and whether you are indoors or out. While indoors everything echoes and the sound bounces off the walls. The effect might actually be a little overdone, but I actually like it. Explosions sound great, especially when going off near you. You can hear debris fly by and you hear dust and sand raining down on you. If something goes off a bit too close to you, the sound gets muted out and you have a ringing in your ears. I've been playing the game with my headphones and the sound has GREATLY contributed to my enjoyment of the game.

- One of the biggest negatives that I have so far are that enemies are just way too aware of your presence. If you want to mix it up and play a stealthy game, forget about it. Once you engage the enemy, even if it from behind with a silenced weapon or from 100 meters away with a sniper rifle while hiding on the bushes, the enemy immediately knows exactly where you are. If that wasn't bad enough, all enemies seem to be sharpshooters. They have uncanny accuracy and can hit you from insane distances. It is almost impossible to engage in a firefight without taking damage.

- Now is a good time to mention the health system. It is a bit odd. It requires you to manually heal (by injecting yourself with some magic syringe), but you have unlimited use of that syringe. It is almost like Dice decided to avoid the "magical healing over time" like in many other FPS's, so they went with syringes, but then they realized that the enemies are way too accurate and the player is constantly getting hurt, so they'd be constantly running out, so they decided to just let you have an unlimited number. It does have a short recharge time before you can use it again, but it is very short. I'm a bit mixed on the system. Sure, scrambling for the syringe in the middle of a firefight while near death is pretty intense, but since you have to use it SO much it becomes a bit tedious and I start to wonder if just magically healing ala CoD4 wouldn't have been a better choice.

So far I have been enjoying the game more than I thought I would. Looks like it was a good choice to fill in the gap. Will add further impressions if anything changes.